Ask soloists which web browser they use and most of them will answer “Whatever’s preloaded onto my PC.†Typically, this is either Internet Explorer (IE) for Windows users or Safari for those with Macs.
Knowledge of alternative browsers was thin on the ground until late 2004, when Mozilla’s Firefox muscled its way onto the scene. Soon it was obvious this new player was a breath of fresh air for users…and a chill wind for its competitors.
Firefox is ‘open source’ which basically means it’s been developed by users, for users. Its slogan is ‘taking back the web’ and with 64 million downloads since its launch in November 2004, it seems to be doing just that.
Curious as to what all the fuss was about, I made the free download a week ago. I can honestly say after about a day of surfing, I was completely won over. As at the start of every romance, I’m discovering new reasons to love Firefox every day.
So what’s so great about it? Let me count the ways.
1. Tabbed browsing
This enables you to have multiple URLs open in the same browser. You navigate by ‘tabbing’ from one screen to another. Once you use this you realise how annoying managing multiple windows in other browsers is.
2. Bookmark Toolbar
Particularly handy for fans of bookmarking, this toolbar allows you to display your ‘favourites’ horizontally under the title bar. This means you can keep bookmarks on display without having to sacrifice a fifth (or so) of your browser window. While Safari users will be familiar with this tool, it’s not available in IE.
3. Integrated search bar
This lives in the top right of the browser and while it’s defaulted to Google, you can also search other popular sites by choosing from a drop down list which you can customise. My list includes IMDB, eBay, Dictionary.com and Amazon.
4. Security
Firefox is more secure than its competitors and ensures no Spyware headaches. Smarter than the average browser, it alerts you every time you head into a secure environment (i.e. one requiring usernames and passwords) by turning the title bar’s background yellow.
5. Live bookmarks or RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
I’d heard a lot about RSS but, ironically, didn’t understand it. Thanks to Firefox, I now get what it’s about. Basically it’s a way of viewing fresh content from your favourite website without having to navigate through its homepage. When Firefox detects a site with RSS an orange logo appears in the URL bar. Have a play and soon you’ll understand RSS too.
6. Find
Ctrl F for what must be the world’s most intuitive ‘search within a page’ facility.
Having blown sunshine at Firefox it’s necessary to highlight the one downside – some sites won’t load because they have been designed with just IE in mind. However, with millions now choosing Firefox for their default browser, site owners will have no choice but to address this disparity.
I wholeheartedly agree with Forbes magazine’s assessment that “Firefox is better than Explorer by leaps and bounds. I don’t miss Explorer one iota. Give Firefox a day’s worth of Web surfing, and you won’t either.â€
So take my advice and download today!
#1 by Bren Ryan on September 29, 2006 - 9:29 am
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Well, you convinced me to try it!
#2 by Bren Ryan on October 1, 2006 - 11:47 am
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Ok, tried for a long 3 days now. Gotta say, pretty good.
I really like the tabbed browsing, if you surf like i do, you have multiple windows open at once, the tabbed browsing is alomost an obvious MISSING feature of IE
As Sam mentioned, some site dont work, my designahat.com.au admin doesnt work with f/fox, but the site does, so i guess that ok
I love the integrated RSS, i was using a free RSS program before, which was good, but i was getting sick of the ads
Bren
#3 by Ross Hill on October 16, 2006 - 10:12 pm
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IE7 will have tabs as well but stick with firefox
#4 by Ron Stark on January 22, 2007 - 4:03 pm
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Ross, I know that this is a bit belated, but here’s my take.
I’ve been using tabbed browsing on IE 5 and IE6 for around 3 years, through Crazy Browser. Now on IE7 of course, so that’s a bit academic.
As regards the Favourites Bar, it’s been around a while on IE – it’s called Links.
I normally use the Google search bar. Now on IE7 I have 2 integrated search bars!
The issue of security is specious. Take note of bugs and flaws in Firefox (on their several forums) and you’ll see that FF has as many, usually more weaknesses than IE. It’s true, however, that IE is a greater target.
Ctrl-F has been a freature of IE for years – no big deal.
RSS feeds are easily obtained for all versions of IE.
Now for the downsides. FireFox breaks many websites – not that they’ve necessarily been designed specifically for IE, but that FF does not interpret many standard HTML tags properly – the tag in particular, which is a basic page formatting necessity. I have a few hundred website clients, and I find that I have to dumb down many sites just to cater for the 5 – 10% of users (mostly geeks) who use FF.
Another real gripe is that there is no drag feature on FF. In IE you can drag a URL from an email, document or web page straight into IE, and open the target URL. In FF you’re forever using Ctrl-C / Ctrl-V.
FF also mis-interprets font sizes – it can’t tell the difference between points and pixels. As a result many sites become all but illegible in FF on high resolution screens.
Firefox? Hate the damned thing – it’s added 50% to my cost of creating websites.
Ron
#5 by Ron Stark on January 22, 2007 - 4:05 pm
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Sorry Ross – my post was intended for Sam. Maybe if I’d used FF I would have known better.
#6 by Sam Leader on January 22, 2007 - 6:28 pm
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Thanks for your comment, Ron.
I’m sorry to hear you find Firefox so problematic!
This article was first written 18 months ago, which makes it very dated, particularly in tech terms.
IE7 is a vast improvement on older versions. I use both it and Firefox but from a user’s perspective I still prefer the latter.
On the plus side, I reckon alot of FF features made IE buck up their offering, so it could be argued that it’s thanks to FF that IE7 is so much better than older versions.
Ultimately, I guess, it’s horses for courses.Consumers are the ones who have who are ulitmately winners having the freedom to choose which browser to use.
Cheers,
Sam